Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada (1923-16 August 2003) was President of Uganda from 25 January 1971 to 11 April 1979, succeeding Milton Obote and preceding Yusuf Lule. During his dictatorial rule, he shifted from being a pro-Western ruler to being an ally of the Eastern Bloc, and he was overthrown during the Uganda-Tanzania War.

Biography
Idi Amin was born in Koboko, Uganda Protectorate in 1923, and he joined the British King's African Rifles in 1946 as a cook. He soon became a soldier, and exercised his physical strength as a boxer and rugby player. He took part in the British campaigns to prevent the independence of Burma and then of Kenya, where he helped crush the Mau Mau Uprising. Despite early signs of his brutality, he rose quickly to become commander of the Uganda People's Defense Force in 1966. At a time when his corruption became ever more evident, he led a coup against Milton Obote in January 1971. He rejected his predecessor's socialist policies, which earned him applause from the United States and United Kingdom. His initial domestic popularity soon turned sour, as his regime of terror led to widespread, sporadic anarchy. He was not directly responsible for all the violence, but encouraged it through his seemingly arbitrary executions, as well as the incitement to nationalist hatred of Asians and Jews. Claiming areas of Tanzania as part of a "Greater Uganda", he attacked Tanzania in 1978. His forces were soon forced to retreat, however,a s the Tanzanians advanced to the capital of Kampala and reinstated Obote. He went into exile in Saudi Arabia, and he died in Jeddah in 2003. An estimated 250,000 Ugandans were tortured and killed during his regime.